Under Pressure….

Oh the pressure, oh the pressure, oh the pressure.
You see the Super Soup Challenge is under way again(this is year two) over at the newly remodeled(looks fantastic) Running with Tweezers.
Why the pressure? Well, you see, my roasted onion and Gorgonzola soup won last year. I was “souper” surprised when I won and even better was the prize( a lovely soup cookbook). So now, I had to figure out what to make for this year. I decided that just like last year, I would stick with simple flavors, I find that best with soup. I wanted something comforting(as this contest is a tribute to Tami’s mother), yet this time I wanted to use some ingredients that were in season.
Corn. Corn is one of the few Summer ingredients I am not allergic to and more importantly I love! But what to do to make it special? I have sauted, roasted, boiled and baked corn but I had never smoked corn. I had tasted smoked corn before so I knew it was tasty, so I decided to give it a shot. Other than my neighbors hating me for making the whole apartment complex smell like smoked corn and setting off the smoke alarm once, my experiment turned out beautifully.
Pureeing half of the soup gives it a velvety touch but still holds some heartiness. You could puree all of the soup or none of the soup and still have a delicious end result. I chose some maple smoked bacon to compliment the smokiness of the corn, they go very well together.
And there you have it, my entry for this years soup challenge. Hopefully I have lived up to the pressure. I’m not sure if it is a winner, but it is definitely a keeper!

Take sprigs and place them in cheesecloth, making a bouquet garni.
Shuck the husks and smoke corn over hickory chips(I used a blend that someone gave me that has hickory and maple) in a stove top smoker for 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large pot. Add onions and celery, cook(over medium heat) until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
After corn has been smoked, cut kernels from the cob and throw into pan. Saute for 1 minute.
Add the stock and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. When 30 minutes are up, taste soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. I like to do this after the soup has cooked awhile, in case the chicken stock became salty while it reduced. Remove bouquet garni and discard.
Take half of the batch of soup and place into a blender. Blend on puree. Puree until it is smooth with very little kernels left showing.
Add pureed portion of soup back into the pot. Add mustard and heavy cream and bring heat up to medium for 3 minutes.
Serve in bowls and add as much bacon to the top if you would like. If you are doing the vegetarian version of this you might want to add some fresh chopped chives.

Make about 4-6 servings depending on how big of a bowl of soup you like.

hmmm… I am so glad you posted the link to your gorgonzola soup. I have a ton of leftover gorgonzola cream sauce (I made gnocchi on the weekend). It basically just has cream, gorgonzola and a bit of white wine. I am going to try to use that to make your soup…

The bacon caught my eye first, but then the description of smoking out your neighbors made me laught. Never thought of smoking corn for a recipe, but that looks amazing & good. The mustard at the end was also a bit of a surprise, but a good one. Yummy!

Hi…I’m wondering if you have any favorite recipes that involve peaches. This weekend in my home town it will be Peach Days to celebrate the local peaches being at their best. Although I no longer live there, I try to make something peachy at this time. Thanks!

Lovely soup Peabody. And it has to make me smile since I just realized now that your soup is with corn AND my entry will be a corn soup too! I will have to try your version which sounds just as comforting as you describe it.

This is too funny! I just found your blog at Bea’s and was planning on entering with my Lobster and Corn Chowder (which I published last evening) until I saw that Bea had published a corn soup! So I waived on that and entered with a Boiled Dinner instead. I love that bacon! That is a winning taste combination and the picutres are scrumptious!

Cool weather in Seattle brings out the very best soup at Peabody’s! Please a bowl for me!
I have a great corn chowder, a little like this, but the details here are so beautiful: smoke the corn and the rosemary & sage! That takes things into a heavenly realm.
Now I need a smoker.

I love all of the recipes you have on this site for soup. As someone who eats most of their lunches in soupy form, i have found myself in need of a blender for pureed soups. Do you have any that you would recommend?
Here are the ones I’ve been looking at:

Trackbacks

[…] Grilled Corn Chowder Posted on September 28, 2007 by ash I was inspired to make some Corn Chowder by Elly and Peabody. Both of their corn chowders looked delicious. Summer is coming to an end, or so I’d like to think (I live in Texas after all which means it could be hot clear through Thanksgiving or later). But with thoughts of fall on the horizon, I’m starting to prepare and think of all the fabulous things I want to cook. I figured I ought to get as much corn in as I can before its no longer readily available. And what better way to enjoy it than in soup form as I anxiously await Texas fall? […]

[…] Pie Cupcakes. They look so sweet and tangy, and well just simply decadent. She also whipped up a Roasted Corn Soup for her entry to this year’s Super Soup Challenge. Like everything else on Peabody’s […]

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Hi I’m Peabody (yep, that’s my first name) and welcome to my site! Here you will find a whole lot of yummy recipes (mostly baking and dessert), positive body image promotion, telling it like it is, and the random things that make up my life. Thanks for stopping by! {More…}